It finally happened, a free iPad with every data plan

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The availability of a 3G iPad has meant that bundling Apple’s tablet with a contract has been a growing trend. Some networks have discounted the price of the iPad in order to entice a signature for two-years of data plan charges. Until now, though, no one has offered the iPad for free as far as we know.

The first to jump and start giving the hardware away is the Japanese network SoftBank. Japanese consumers can now walk out of one of SoftBank’s stores with a free iPad in exchange for signing up to a two-year data contract.

The deal only covers the 16GB version of the tablet, though. If you want a 32GB it will cost $115, and a 64GB model is $230. Both are still much cheaper than buying from the Apple Store.

For Apple, it really doesn’t make a lot of difference. SoftBank is still buying iPads at the same price as everyone else, they are just deferring any profit for a year or so when the data charges catch up. Apple also still makes money from the App Store whenever one of these iPads is used to make a purchase.

One side effect of this deal, if it gets repeated elsewhere, is it could see a surge in iPad sales. Consumers find it hard to turn down “free”, and we are all used to signing up for multi-year contracts when buying a new smartphone.

This SoftBank offer lasts until February, so we are bound to see a short-term surge in sales of 3G iPads over the next two months in Japan.